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Top Student Gardeners Awarded At Blue Ribbon Show

Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation applauds the commitment and accomplishments of the executive committee of the School Children’s Flower and Vegetable Association (SCFVA) and participating students in the City-Wide Blue-Ribbon Show, which took place Saturday, September 14, at the McMillen Community Center.

This annual show represents the work of top student gardeners from over 60 elementary schools including area home schools. Each spring, every Fort Wayne student in kindergarten to grade four receives one of ten varieties of plants grown by staff at the Lawton Park Greenhouse for the SCFVA. Students may also order seeds for vegetables, herbs or flowers. Students are responsible to grow their plants and seeds, which they enter in their schools’ annual Plant, Flower and Vegetable Shows. All of those shows culminate in the City-wide Blue-Ribbon Show at McMillen Community Center.

(l-r) Lillian Bennett, Strawberry Begonia, St. Jude Elementary; Christian Hupe, Gourds, Concordia Elementary; Eli Baker, Mixed Bouquet/ Spider Plant, St. Joe Central Elementary; Macenzie Blosser, Asparagus Fern, Lincoln Elementary

Over 17,000 plants and over 3,800 seed packets were delivered to students in April of 2024.

Lynda Heavrin, Manager of Landscape and Horticulture for the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department and SCFVA Executive Committee Advisor said, “in my 26 years working with this program, I’m ever amazed at the engagement of the children and their families. They are so proud of their plants! We endeavor to ‘further education about nature, growing flowers, plants and vegetables’ and in the process ‘mold characteristics’ of patience and responsibility which will help them become good citizens of the future.” She continued, “We are grateful to all the parents, school chairpersons, judges and other volunteers who invest time in teaching the benefits of gardening.”

The Waynedale News Staff
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